Rain washes out Cardinals-Nationals game

May 3, 2009 - 10:00 PM
WASHINGTON(AP) -- John Lannan was prepared to face the St. Louis
Cardinals on Sunday. Instead, the Washington Nationals
left-hander waited out a nearly two-hour rain delay, then turned
his attention to watching video of an unexpected opponent.

Sunday's scheduled game between the Cardinals and Nationals was
postponed by rain after a delay of 1 hour, 54 minutes. Lannan's
start was pushed back to Monday night, when he'll face the
Houston Astros in the opener of a two-game series at Nationals
Park.

However, heavy rains are forecast for Washington on Monday,
meaning that start also could be in jeopardy.

"I'm going to go watch some video. I faced the Astros a couple
of times - I faced them in spring training and I faced them last
year. I'm familiar with the hitters, more so than the
Cardinals," Lannan said.

Sunday's game never got started as persistent showers swept
through Washington and never let up.

No makeup date was immediately announced, and choosing one for
the rescheduled game could be tricky. It was the last in a
four-game series between the teams that marks the Cardinals'
only visit to Washington this season.

The grounds crew removed the tarp twice to drain water, once
more to spread drying compound over the infield, then a final
time to rid it of more accumulated precipitation. There were
several hundred fans in the stands when the postponement was
announced at 3:29 p.m.

"We decided (the field) was too dangerous to play on," said Mike
Rizzo, Washington's acting general manager.

St. Louis had already scratched scheduled starter Kyle Lohse
because of the wet conditions and replaced him with reliever
Kyle McClellan, who would have made his first major league
start.

Instead, McClellan will return to the bullpen and Lohse will
start Monday night at home against Philadelphia.

"We said McClellan was going to be the starter, so we got Kyle
out of his starter mentality (and) thinking about tomorrow," St.
Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "That works well."

McClellan, who had never pitched more than three innings in his
78 relief appearances over the past two seasons, was surprised
when informed of the switch.

"I had no clue," he said. "I didn't know what the weather was.
That's kind of life in the bullpen. The phone rings and you're
ready to go."

The Cardinals and Nationals share only three common off days for
the remainder of the season: May 28, June 15 and July 23.
Washington plays a three-game series in St. Louis from Aug.
28-30.

Baseball's collective bargaining agreement prevents teams from
playing more than 20 consecutive days, though that provision can
be mutually waived by the teams involved.

"We're trying to figure out what the options are," said
McClellan, the Cardinals' union representative. "It will
probably be a few days."

Notes: The Nationals agreed to a non-guaranteed, minor league
contract with RHP Mike MacDougal, designated for assignment
April 21 by the Chicago White Sox. MacDougal, who had a 12.54
ERA in five games with Chicago this season, will report to
Triple-A Syracuse. "He's going to be in Triple-A until he proves
he's better than what we've got up here in the big leagues,"
Rizzo said. "It's a depth-in-inventory insurance policy type of
thing ... to have reinforcements in case we need them."
MacDougal is 13-20 with 50 saves and a 4.18 ERA in 262 games
with Kansas City and Chicago.